Odds & Ins.

Nice Place To Visit? Somehow, New York Doesn't Fill The Bill

May 18, 1994|By Terry Armour.

The last time the Bulls were in New York, the trip was sort of laid back-if you take away a pair of losses to the Knicks. The Bulls still managed some sightseeing and had a little fun away from Madison Square Garden. "The city's not bad," said Bulls center Bill Cartwright on Tuesday as the team prepared for another jaunt to the Big Apple for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinal. "Actually, it's a great place to visit."

And this latest trip might actually offer the Bulls a break from all the problems in Chicago over the weekend. Sure, the Bulls managed to even the series at 2-2. But there was all that unwanted publicity surrounding the ugly brawl and Scottie Pippen fiasco on Friday. Who needs that mess when you're trying to win another title? Maybe a return to New York is just what the Bulls need at this time. Then again, maybe not. "I don't know what we're getting away from, but they're just waiting for us right now," said guard B.J. Armstrong. "They're going to be waiting for us like sharks. I don't know if you can call that getting away. We're going into a lions' den. Everyone for themselves. We're going to have to get ourselves ready."

More from Mr. Bill: A major key for the Bulls right now is the play of Cartwright, one of the league's better defenders against the Knicks' Patrick Ewing. What has helped Cartwright this season is the extended rest he got during and after the first-round series against Cleveland. Cartwright said he's in much better shape than he was a year ago at this time. "This season," Cartwright said, "I feel all right-knock on wood. Everything's seemingly working all right." For the record, when Cartwright went to knock on wood he didn't go after Pippen's head. Pippen and Horace Grant blew off the media again after Tuesday's practice at the Berto Center.

Mr. Bill's help: It's a given the Knicks are going to feed the ball inside to Ewing. Cartwright will need help. That's where guys like Bill Wennington and Scott Williams come in. Somebody's going to have to wear Ewing down. This means getting physical. "We have to keep him as far away from the basket as we can," Wennington said. "Phil's going to try and throw the three of us out there and try to wear him out."

Whoops: There was supposed to be a surprise going-away party for Chet Coppock on Friday but the folks at Coppock-Meyers Public Relations on Tuesday found out the surprise would have been Coppock not showing up-which might not have been a bad thing. The Chetster will be in New York Friday for the start of his new TV gig.

Uncertain future

With Jennifer Capriati being arrested on a marijuana charge, it's ironic that she is featured in the June issue of Tennis magazine, with senior editor Mark Preston taking an in-depth look at Capriati's slide out of tennis. In the article, Capriati's former coach, Tom Gullikson, ponders whether the 18-year-old Capriati will ever return to the tour. "I honestly never got the sense that she really loved the game the way you sense that a Pete Sampras or a Jimmy Connors really loves it," Gullikson said. "To be great for a long, long time, you've got to love it."

A thought: The lowly Los Angeles Clippers have fired eight coaches in the last 10 years, the latest being former Bulls guard Bobby Weiss on Monday. Could the problem be in the front office? Just wondering.

Procrastinators: Monday was the deadline for contributing alumni of Notre Dame to apply for a lottery to purchase tickets for Irish football games. The Notre Dame ticket office received 771 applications Monday morning via Federal Express from places as far away as France, Brazil and Hong Kong. The deadline-which used to be June 20-was moved up a month to make things easier on the ticket office. There are approximately 16,000 tickets available through the lottery for Notre Dame home games.

Around the town: At the Women in Need Foundation of Chicago's annual sports memorabilia auction over the weekend, an autographed Michael Jordan basketball jersey went for $1,650 while an autographed Charles Barkley jersey went for $850. Those on hand said there were a few boos when it came time to bid on a basketball autographed by Scottie Pippen. That, along with a pair of tickets to next season's Bulls opener still went for $650.

Around the town II: Former Negro League pitcher and outfielder Nap Gulley will sign autographs beginning at noon Saturday at Beulah Sports in Glenview. Gulley, who pitched three no-hitters in 1946, played for 15 Negro League teams during his career, including the Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs and Birmingham Black Barons.

In closing: Quotable tennis star Jim Courier, describing the shape he's in this year compared to last year: "Less hair. More wrinkles. A few thousand miles of travel. Same forehand. Same serve."